School 94501/94502

This one may not be for everyone, but I’ll go ahead and share the (exciting for some of us) news:  The Legislative Analyst’s Office has just released a webcast/video that does a good job of explaining that complex beast at the center of school finance known as Proposition 98.
For those who dare, here it is. [...]

During the course of the debate over Measure H, it has struck me that a significant number of people who should know better still don’t understand the fundamentals of how AUSD’s finances work and how essential to our kids and our community Measure H really is.
The most important “missing piece” in many discussions around here [...]

Well, last week marked the end of the “first quarter” of the academic year for public schools in Alameda.  Although we’re less than 25% through the “calendar days” of the 2008-2009 school year, we’ve now passed the 25% mark of “school days.”
As we’ve all been working hard doing what we do in the classroom, the [...]

Just in case we needed another reminder of why it would be really, really good to have a state budget for the 08-09 school year (you know, the one that’s already started), today the SF Chronicle has one on its front page.

Among the many challenges our schools still face is the difficult question of how best to continue to pay for school sports programs.
Since I think the many answers to the question “why pay for school sports?” are obvious (or at least can be saved for another occasion), I’ll skip right past “why” to a story [...]

“What’s Next, What’s Next?”  That’s a question I’ve heard many times in the past few weeks since it has been clear that Measure H really would pass.
The Measure H campaign mobilized and educated a lot of talented people who want to continue helping out Alameda’s schools. One of the many great things about Measure H’s [...]

If you weren’t able to be at the USS Hornet the day the Governor came to town (or if you were and would like to relive the experience), you may enjoy a new video called “Save our Schools.”
If you’d like to read the thoughts of Encinal High School Student Body President Ian Merrifield on Measure [...]

Today the Governor released his proposed revision for the 2008-2009 California Budget. Budget nerds usually refer to this as the “May Revise.” Despite some encouraging rhetoric and nice sound bites about meeting Prop 98 requirements, the bottom line is that the Governor’s proposal appears to cut 4.3 billion from the state education budget.
If 4.3 billion [...]

Last night’s “Save the Music” concert was packed with talent and passion and great music. I’ll admit to being a completely biased critic, but for me the greatest highlight of the show (among many highlights) was “We Shall Overcome” by Lynn Tousey’s elementary school singers. I found it incredibly beautiful and moving. As the judges [...]

As I hope you already know, Saturday at 10am at Encinal High School, there will be a “Town Hall” meeting organized by Sandré Swanson. The meeting will focus on issues near and dear to my heart: the state budget cuts and education. I regret that other obligations will prevent me from attending the meeting, but [...]